James Bushnell is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Davis, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prior to joining UC Davis, he spent 15 years as the Research Director of the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley, and two years as the Cargill Chair in Energy Economics and Director of the Biobased Industry Center at Iowa State University. Prof. Bushnell received a Ph.D. in Operations Research from U.C. Berkeley in 1993. He has written extensively on the regulation, organization, and competitiveness of energy markets. His research on restructured electricity markets has appeared in leading economics journals such as the American Economic Review and RAND journal of economics.
​
Prof. Bushnell has been actively involved in energy and environmental policy for over a decade. During 1999 and 2000, he served as a member of the Market Monitoring Committee (MMC) of the California Power Exchange. Since 2002, he has served as a member of the Market Surveillance Committee (MSC) of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Both the MMC and MSC were establish to provide external monitoring and analysis to complement the internal market monitoring functions at the PX and CAISO, respectively. Prof. Bushnell has also served as a member of the Economic Analysis and Allocation Committee (EAAC) and Market Simulation Group (MSG) of the California Air Resources Board. Both groups were charged with analyzing California’s emissions market for greenhouse gasses and advising the ARB on the markets design and performance.​